The National Food Security Mission was launched in 2007. The main aims of the scheme is to increase the production of food grains in the country. It was launched as the food grains production in India was stagnating and also the need for consumption was growing with population explosion.
What are the objectives of National Food Security Mission?
- The mission aims to increase the production of rice, pulses, wheat, coarse cereals, nutritious cereals in identified districts. The coarse cereals were included in the mission in 2014-15.
- It also aims to restore soil fertility
- It also focuses to enhance farm level economy. Eventually this will restore the confidence among the farmers.
Twelfth Five Year Plan
During the XII five year plan, the GoI set a target under the mission. The target was to achieve 25 million toones of food grains. This included 10 million tonnes of rice, 4 million tonnes of pulses, 8 million tonnes of wheat and 3 million tonnes of coarse cereals. After the XII year plan, the mission was continued under new targets. They were 13 million tonnes of food grains. This included 5 million tonnes of rice, 2 million tonnes of coarse cereals, 3 million tonnes of pulses, 3 million tonnes of wheat.
What are the key activities of National Food Security Mission?
- To provide assistance in organizing cluster demonstrations on cropping systems.
- To distribute High Yielding Variety seeds, farm machineries, resource conservation, nutrient management, plant protection.
- To increae the seed replacement rates of improved varities of food grains.
What are the key features of the mission?
- The mission focuses on high potential and low productivity districts.
- It implements cropping system centric missions
- It prepares agro – climatic zone wise plans
- It focuses on pulse production by using rice bunds, rice fallow and inter cropping of pulses with oil seeds and coarse cereals.
- The To promote the extension of improved technologies
Achievements of the scheme
- mission increased pulses production in the country. Between 2014 and 2020, the pulses production in the country increased by 35%.
- The total food grains production during 2014 and 2020 has increased by 14.64%
- The GOI released Rs 8,760 crores under the scheme to the states.